Updated information about the trail network in and around Los Alamos, NM.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Changes to the South Pueblo Bench Trail

Whenever it rains, the gas line road used as part of the South Pueblo Bench Trail near the site of the Pueblo Wastewater Treatment Plant turns to gooey mud. For years we've tried various fixes, none of which were successful. With increasingly intense storms, the eastern part of this segment turned into a deepening rut and users have tracked new routes all over the place. The only solution was to move the trail segment onto a sustainable route. An 800-foot re-alignment is complete and ready for use. The soil is the same, but the new trail is outsloped (tilted slightly downslope) and there are many grade reversals (small dips) so the trail should shed water.Also, over the years users have worn a singletrack route near the rim of Pueblo Canyon as an alternate to the gasline road that used to service the Peggy Sue Bridge. That road has long been another erosion nightmare, so I'm going to start calling the singletrack the South Pueblo Bench Trail (it used to be the road). There are several "branch" trails in this area, and most of them are highly used and in good shape, so those won't change.